


Sombre Valse

by KaedeRavensdale



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Bad dye job to hide Eren's identity, Eren doesn't at first, Erwin is the leader of the BAU, Kidnapping, Levi has his memories, M/M, Mikasa is in the police academy, Murder, Non-con themes, Reincarnation AU, Shounen ai, Torture blood and gore, Underage - Freeform, Yandere Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), cross country flight from the law, currently piloting this story, may add more tags later, older sister Mikasa, quantico, serial killer Levi, stalker levi, unlawful imprisonment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-03-25 08:26:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3803599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaedeRavensdale/pseuds/KaedeRavensdale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Yeager: Spoiled rotten rich kid rebelling against his parents, using a fake ID to go out drinking and clubbing every night he can. Levi Ackerman: former Navy Seal, prodigy of the Shiganshina Ripper and himself a serial killer known only as ‘the Raven’. He’s been hunting Eren since before he was born, but what the young brunet doesn’t expect is that the Raven’s intentions with him are anything but murder or that his own taste for blood will soon become apparent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Raven's Gaze

**Author's Note:**

> This is currently the pilot of this story: i like the idea of it but i'm not sure how it would be received so instead of putting a lot of time into it right away and getting a bad turn out I've decided to post the first chapter and see how it's received while i work on my other stories. Will be updated dependant on feedback, any and all reviews appreciated.

I always find it funny, looking back on it now. What I’ve become. Long ago, in another place, in another life I was a hero. A corporal. A man beloved by many, young and old, despite my flaws. Back then, I was humanity’s strongest. Back then, I slew monsters. But now, in year 2015, everything has changed. The walls-Maria, Rose, Sina-are long gone. The histories abandoned. The Titans forgotten. In this world Humanity once more holds dominion, wallowing in the hubris and filth of ‘modern’ society. In this world, the resources that the inhabitants of the walls would once have killed for-chocolate, wine, meat-can be bought at token price on every street corner. In this world, _I_ am the monster. Sometimes, in a twisted satire sort of way, it still makes me laugh. When I’m sharpening my blades grown dull with use, disposing of a cleanly butchered body or washing the blood from my hands the irony of it all never does escape me. I’ve given up almost entirely on that life which only I seem to remember; on the man who I was-Lance Corporal Levi-on the Wings of Freedom, on all of the morals I’d once so desperately clung to in some effort to maintain a semblance of order in that life in which Humanity, teetering on the brink of extinction, was rapidly coming apart. But there is one thing, one _person_ , I will never let go of. The only reason, now and then, that I truly had to feel. To fight. The person I’ve been hunting all my life for in this rotting world. The brunet angel who had so easily stolen my heart with a simply flash of his stupid smile. The man I’d only just recently found again. No matter what happens or who gets in my way, I _will_ have you Eren Yeager!

 

Chapter One – Raven’s Gaze

 

                The police academy was by no means an easy means of education, especially when one was at the top of their class. With all of the stresses involved in a normal day one would hope that upon returning home they would be able to expect at least some small measure of peace, but unfortunately for her-because of her younger brother-that was not the case. Turning off the engine of her car Mikasa enjoyed a few moments further silence before unbuckling herself and stepping out onto the street with her bag over one arm. As she started heading up the driveway towards the front door she caught sight of an unfamiliar man leaning against a tree while taking pains to remain on the sidewalk as if to insure he didn’t trespass. He was shorter than most at just over five feet tall with well-groomed black hair styled in an undercut and pale skin. He was nicely dressed in black slacks, a white button down shirt with a black suit jacket draped over one arm and a cravat secured smartly around his neck in place of a tie. His eyes were cold and sharp, steely grey with flecks of ice blue and framed in long lashes; a smoking, lit cigarette was balanced carefully in his long deft fingers and he seemed to be staring intently at the house.

                “Excuse me, Sir? Can I help you with something?” she asked, approaching him carefully; something seemed very off about this man.

                “Eh?” he grunted quietly, making a show of starting in a way meant to suggest he hadn’t noticed her there. “Oh, I apologize Ms. I didn’t see you there. This is public walking space I, uh…didn’t realize that I was causing a problem for you?”

                “You were starting at my house.” She told him coolly.

                “Was I?” he inquired absently as if surprised by his own behavior, taking a pull off of the half-smoked cigarette in his hand. “I live nearby: I was out taking a walk after having a particularly miserable day at the firm; didn’t realize I’d zoned out. I do apologize again, I didn’t mean to come off as some sort of stalker.”

                “Firm?” she repeated.

                “Law firm; I’m a lawyer, you see. Not the criminal kind, unfortunately, the paperwork kind.”

                “Did you move here recently? I wasn’t aware that we were neighbors.” Even as she tried to be polite her voice was strained, and it was evident to her own ears. There was something about his eyes-the cold, almost sociopathic disassociation in their depths-that reminded her of a snake.

                “No, we’re not. I said that I live nearby, not next door; my house is about 5 blocks or so further down.” He replied, stooping down to tap out the cigarette on the sidewalk beneath his feet but retaining his hold on the now useless waste left over; an odd habit, to say the least, and one that she took note of. “I’ve kept you long enough; forgive me for any misconceptions you may have taken from my behavior, I don’t normally make a point of acting this way and it won’t happen again.” Tipping his head forwards slightly, he turned and quickly walked away down the street.

                _That…was strange._ She thought, but quickly pushed all thoughts of her odd neighbor out of her mind and preceded the rest of the way up the drive. Setting her heavy schoolbag down the minute that she was through the door she called out but received no answer; her parents didn’t seem to be home, but the loud music upstairs hinted at her brother’s presence. Following the sound, she pushed open his bedroom door only to be met with an unpleasantly familiar and unmistakable smell. _“Eren!”_

Her 15 year old brother nearly jumped out of his skin, the blunt he’d been in the process of smoking dropping onto the floor; his green-gold eyes flashed furiously as he whirled around to glare at her. “Mikasa, what the hell!? All it is is Pot, don’t flip your shit!”

                “ _All_ it is? I’m in the _Police Academy_ Eren!” She hissed at him, snatching it out of his grasp when he bent to pick it up and crushing it into dust with the heel of her boot. “Marijuana isn’t legal in Maria City, and even if it was you’re a _minor_!”

                “What are you going to do, piss test me and turn it in to your teachers for your graduation project?”

                “If you get picked up for an MIP it will reflect back on me, not to mention that I can’t afford to register a contact high! And what about how it will make Dad look; he’s a doctor!” She snapped at him. “Eren, you’re 15! Not a child anymore, but you’re most certainly _not_ and adult especially with the way you act! You can’t keep doing this; Mom and Dad won’t always be around to make your mistakes go away with a little bit of money. You need to understand that your actions have _legal_ consequences!”

                “Whatever.”

                “Where are Mom and Dad?”

                “Dad’s at work, as usual. Mom is…somewhere, I don’t know. Neither of them were home when I got here; she left a note for you. Apparently I need a babysitter!” He grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.

                “Have you done your homework yet?”

                “Screw homework; screw school!”

                “Did you even go today?”

                “No! I hate highschool!”

                “Eren!”

                “Why bother going when I’m just going to get into a fight or be caught smoking in the bathroom and get expelled. I’m just saving all of us the time.” He grunted at her. “I’m going out after dinner with Reiner and the others.”

                “Eren Micheal Yeager, you are not going _anywhere_! Especially not with Reiner Braun-who is 19-or his two delinquent friends!” She told him sharply. “You are staying home, doing your homework and going to school tomorrow. And I will make sure that you do if I have to call in sick to the academy, drive you to Shiganshina High myself and hold your hand all day! Am I clear?”            

                His pillow came flying at her head but she easily dodged it. “ _Get out!!!”_

                “I’ll call you down when dinner is ready. And don’t even think about trying to sneak out of the front door.” He stuck his tongue out at her. “Cellphone. Now.” Eren frowned but reluctantly handed it over, glaring daggers at her back as she finally exited the room. Once downstairs she set a pot of water on the stove to boil and dialed her boyfriend’s number on the house phone. “Hey, Jean. I know that this is kind of sudden but I only just realized that I have to babysit my brother tonight and I was wonder if you could maybe come over and help me for a few hours. You know how much of a handful he is.”

                “Eren?” she could practically hear the wince in his tone. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be over to help you wrangle the lion in about 20 minutes.” The pasta was ready in 15 and she called Eren down for dinner; her brother skulked angrily at the table for another five minutes before taking his plate and retreating up the stairs when he heard the doorbell ring. Jean walked in a moment later. “Yeah, so, I almost ran over some guy who was standing in your driveway when I pulled up; he flipped me the bird and told me to fuck myself with a cactus before he walked off.”

                “That’s…one of our neighbors. I just met him today myself, but my Dad probably knows him; he knows everyone in this neighborhood.” She told him, handing him a plate of dinner which he gratefully accepted with a smile. “I found him a little bit odd, but I don’t think he’s dangerous. At worst he’s just some disillusioned corporate lawyer.”

                “If you say so.” He replied, plopping down onto the couch beside her. “So you’re thinking in inviting me over was ‘I know that my brother hates you with a burning fiery passion so hopefully he’ll stick around to make your life hell instead of sneaking out tonight’?”

                She nodded. “Pretty much. Sorry, Jean.”

                “Glad I can be of service,” he grumbled. “Can we at the very least watch a movie while we’re down here?”

                “Go ahead and pick one.”

                Eren, eavesdropping from the stairs, carefully slithered back up the stairs to his room and shut the door quietly behind him. Reiner and the others would be there any minute to pick him up and there was no chance he was getting out of the front door. So that left the window; unlocking it and managing to force the pane open without too much difficulty he peered cautiously down at the yard 10 feet below before edging out onto the roof and dropping to the grass, unaware of the eyes watching him keenly from the bushes as he jumped into the beaten up four door which pulled to a stop at the curb.

                _And just where are you going, brat? Didn’t your sister tell you to stay home tonight?_ As the car pulled away and drove off down the street he retreated deeper into the bushes to retrieve his own vehicle and follow.

 

                “So you could join us after all, huh Yeager?” Annie snickered at him from the front seat, offering him a cigarette which he gladly took.

                “My sister tried to keep me from going out by calling her Horse over to help her guard the door. Didn’t think I’d go out the window, though.” He replied with a small sneer, lighting the cigarette and taking a few puffs. “What are we up to this time?”

                “Movie; got money?”

                “You owe me for last time, Braun.”

                “Remembered that, did you?” the burly blonde laughed. “Alright, I’ll cover your ticket but if you want food you’re on your own.”

                “Sweet!” The brunet crowd, settling deeper into the leather seat. “What movie are we seeing?”

                “Whatever is new and rated R. Why, was there something in particular you wanted?”

                “No, I was just wondering.” He said. They pulled to a stop at the movie theater a few minutes later and piled out of Reiner’s car, buying their tickets and waiting in line for food Eren, without any money on him, mooching food off of Annie who allowed it having only bought popcorn in the first place to keep him off her chocolate. The movie that the four ended up seeing was the latest slasher film, overdramatized and filled with blood and gore to an unrealistic degree. By the time the movie was over it was already almost ten o clock, the night cloudy but the full moon still bright. “Don’t tell me that we’re going home already.”

                “Hell no, not yet. Week night or not ten is way too early Yeager.” Reiner snorted.

                “Hey Eren, do you have your false ID on you?” Berthold asked him.

                “Always, why?”

                “We should stop at that liquor store we passed on the way here; we might be able to score some alcohol.”

                “Good thinking, Bert.” The blonde agreed as he got back into the driver’s seat. “Think you can pull it off?”

                “I can try, but Liquor stores tend to be a lot more careful than your standard bar so I can’t promised anything.” Eren told them. “It’s worth a shot, though.”

                “That’s the spirit! Be sure to get the good stuff.” The liquor store was only five minutes or so away from the theater, and within no time at all the car was pulling in to the deserted parking lot. “Annie, can you spot this one?” she didn’t answer, but took out her wallet and handed the brunet a pair of twenties.

                “I’ll be back in a few minutes; be ready to drive away fast in case they don’t buy my ID.” Closing the door behind him, he set out towards the store and was half way across the lot before another car pulled into a nearby parking space and a man got out. _Shit._ Another customer would complicate things; might question him. Could help the teller keep him in the store. Could…wait, he recognized him. He lived in his neighborhood, had spoken to his dad once or twice. His name started with an L, Eren remembered. Lonny, or Larry, or “Levi?”

                The raven haired man stopped in his tracks and looked up at the sound of his name. “Do I know you, brat?”

                “Uh…maybe? I’m Grisha’s son, Eren. Yeager.” He’d never spoken to the man himself but hopefully his father’s name would ring a few bells and that it did if the man’s nod was anything to go off of.

                “Yeah, the Doctor’s boy. I’ve seen you around, but we’ve never spoken.” He said calmly, grey-blue eyes panning over him before glancing over at the car. “A 15 year old boy out nearly passed curfew on a week night with a bunch of friends at a liquor store. Let me guess, you’re about to ask me to commit a felony and buy you a bottle aren’t you?”

                “…If I did, would you?”

                “If I said no, would you find some way to get a hold of alcohol anyway?” a moment passed before the brunet nodded cautiously. “What do you want? Wine? Liquor? Beer?”

                “You’re going to do it?” wow, that was easy. Surprisingly so.

                “Don’t look so excited brat, this carries a condition.” His face fell slightly. “You’re going to do stupid shit like drink under aged anyway, so I may as well make sure that you do it in the safest manner possible. If you’re drinking, and your friends are drinking, including the friend who is going to be driving, bad things are bound to happen. Not to mention the fact that there is a serial killer roaming about town that the police can’t catch; would hate for you to stumble across him now wouldn’t we.” Something about the way in which he said that last bit was rather creepy, but Eren dismissed it. “I buy you this, you let me drive you home. That’s all I ask.”

                That was it? No money? Not favors? “Deal!” He handed him the twenties and the raven disappeared inside; five minutes later he came out again with a bottle of hard liquor in a paper bag which he handed over the minute that they were out of sight of the window. Cracking off the lid, Eren took a swig and almost immediately regretted it. “Holy shit, that burns!”

                “That’s the good stuff for you; scotch gets you drunk off your ass real fast.” Levi told him with an amused look on his face as they headed back towards the car. “I assume the four of you won’t be drinking here?”

                “Nope, we have a place we go to.”

                He nodded. “I’ll follow you there in my car. The minute that you’re finished with that bottle, I’m taking you home Yeager.”

                “About that…” Eren stopped with his hand on the car door and looked at Levi with large imploring eyes. “I…sort of snuck out. And if I sneak back in drunk my sister really won’t be happy. So…can I ask a big favor and crash at your place for the night to sober up? I’ll be gone by morning; I can walk home since we only live a few blocks apart.”

                “You don’t even know me, brat. Don’t you think a sleep over is a little bit unsafe?”

                “Not at all. You don’t seem dangerous.”

                _But that’s what every one of them says prior to learning how very wrong they are. Of course, I’d never dream of harming you._ “If you want to sleep on my couch for a night instead of going home, fine. Just don’t go telling anyone where you’ve been; I’d rather not be written up for kidnapping charges.”

                “Yes, Sir. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Eren opened the car door and jumped back into the back seat.

                “Who was that?” Berthold asked him immediately.

                “A neighbor; he’s going to be following us to our drinking spot tonight.”

                “Why the hell would he be doing that?” Reiner demanded as the brunet started passing the bottle around.

                “Because it’s the condition of him buying this for me; that he drive me home so I don’t get into a car crash and die.”

                “Is this scotch?” Annie asked as the bottle came to her. “It’s strong.”

                “Yeah, I think it is. At least that’s what he said.” He told her. “It’s certainly one of the most expensive things in that store.” Pulling their car to a stop on the side of the dark road, Reiner pulled out the keys.

                “Alright Yeager, go and make sure your new friend doesn’t get lost in the woods.” He grunted. “We might be able to get him to do this for us more often, if his only condition is to be allowed to drive you home.”

                Rolling his eyes, he left the car again and approached the jet black Camaro rolled to a stop on the shoulder behind them and the raven again emerged. “Ok, so we have a little bit of walking to do before we reach the spot but it’s not too far. Follow me.” He lead the way down the little deer trail after the others, and by the time the pair arrived the other three had already started drinking. The bottle was passed back to Eren who took a deep drink again, this time without coughing on the liquid fire, before trying to pass it to Levi who turned it away.

                “Work is already a headache, brat. I don’t need a hanger over to make it worse.” He sat by and watched as the four passed the bottle back and forth, progressively becoming drunker as the night went on until the bottle ran out and Reiner tossed it against a tree. “Can you still stand, brat?”

                “Notthatdrunkifine.” Eren slurred, getting up and nearly falling over but managing to stay on his feet. “Thecarnotfaricanwalkmyownnotneedhelp.”

                “Yeah, yeah brat put your money where your mouth is.” Levi told him calmly, grabbing the brunet by the arm and gently guiding him back down the path. “It’s time to get you home.” The boy was having trouble standing on his own but walking didn’t seem to be too much of a problem and, having drank the least out of the four of them having arrived late on the scene, was far from the point of passing out. It looked like Levi would have to fix that himself. “You still want to crash at my place, brat?” a small sound of ascent came from the boy as he opened the car door and all but tumbled out. Levi unlocked the front door quickly and allowed the kid inside. “Shoes off, I don’t want you tracking dirt and shit onto my floor.” Eren complied, clumsily pulling his shoes off of his feet before following the raven into the sitting room. “Do you want some coffee to help sober you up? I can make you some.”

                “Nothankyousleepplease.” He groaned.

                “Well, there’s the couch,” he gestured to the plush leather furniture. “I’ll go and get a blanket for you from the hall closet. Wait here.” Leaving the sitting room behind, Levi went immediately to the bath room and opened the medicine cabinet, pulling down a brown glass bottle of ether and soaking a handkerchief in it. Returning downstairs he found the teetering brunet observing one of the pictures carefully framed and placed on the coffee table. “Brat,” he called, drawing his attention before pouncing. He may well have been the smaller of the two of them, but he was stronger and he had to his advantage that his quarry was far from sober; his weight knocked the boy back onto his back on the couch and he promptly secured the handkerchief over his mouth and nose before he could try to stand up. Eren struggled as best he could but it wasn’t long before the chemical overwhelmed him and he lost consciousness, going limp against the cushions. Pulling the handkerchief away, Levi lifted the lanky teen into his arms and headed out of the sitting room; opening the door to the basement, he carried his prize into the darkness below.

 


	2. The First 24 Hours

The pair had held sentry in the den until around 2:30 in the morning at which point it appeared that Eren would be making no attempts to exit the house and they’d drifted off to sleep. Waking up at around 6:30 the next day they found the house still dark and silent: her parents hadn’t yet returned and her brother was still sleeping. Jean’s arms were firmly secured around her waist, and the only way that she would be checking on her sibling would be to wake up her boyfriend; his amber eyes slid open to peer at her blearily when she gently shook his shoulder/

                “Morning,” he yawned, releasing her and stretching.

                “Good morning. I’m going to go and wake up Eren to have him start getting ready for school-he’s going today whether he likes it or not-before we head back to the academy.”

                “Need help with the fight against the little monster?”

                “I can handle my brother on my own with this much.” Leaving the den and heading up the stairs, she pushed open the door of his room and peered inside. Eren had opened the window at some point in the night likely when the smell of stale smoke had become too much for him to bare, and over the course of the preceding hours of darkness the room had grown cold. A faint breeze filtered through it, ruffling the curtains that hung over the window as the numbers on the small screen of the alarm clock sitting on the bedside table shed a dim light over her brother’s form curled up beneath the covers of his bed. Mikasa stood in the doorway for a few minutes gazing down at her beloved brother’s form grown placid with sleep as she remembered all of the good memories that they had shared back before he’d grown into his hormonal angry teenaged self. A sweet boy. A loving boy, though he always had had a temper on him and a stubborn streak that stretched a mile. She could only hope that it was a phase he would grow out of, and quickly. “Eren, you need to wake up. School starts in 20 minutes.” No answer. Not so much as a twitch. “Eren.” More stern this time as she crossed the room and pulled back the covers. “You need to- _Jean!!!”_ Her boyfriend’s footsteps came flying up the stairs at her shout.

                “What? What? What happened?” Stumbling into the room he saw her staring down at the socks which had been piled up and concealed beneath his sheets before glancing at the open window. “Damn that little brat, he must have climbed out of the window last night instead of using the door! That explains how quiet it was!” He growled as the ravenette made a mad dash down the hall towards the phone. “Where are you going?”

                “I’m calling the cops! The first 24 hours are the ones with the highest chance of an addicted child’s sage return and for all we know he’s already been missing for 12!”

                “Don’t!” Gently, he took the phone from her hand and pressed the end call button. “We’re both attending the academy, we both know the stats. But we also both know that Eren has a history of running away. And we both know what the cops are going to say. ‘He’s with a friend. He’ll come back on his own.’ Instead of wasting everyone’s time in case they’re right, we should look for him ourselves. At least until your parents get back. Just to make sure.”

                “…We still have to call in to the academy about this.” He watched as she quickly dialed in another number and explained her situation to whomever it was that had picked up on the other end. “Alright, let’s go! We’ll start by checking Armin’s, then Marco’s and Connie’s. If he’s not there we’ll check Reiner’s: if I find out that my brother is there I may very well kill all four of them myself!”

                Stopping only to grab their jackets and the keys to Jean’s car the pair rushed out and hurried down the street-pushing the speed limit-and roared up onto the driveway of her brother’s childhood friend. Their knock was answered by the highly intelligent blonde’s grandfather.

                “Mikasa? It’s been quite a while since I’ve last seen you.”

                “Good morning, Mr. Arlert. Is Eren here? If not, was he possibly here at any time last night?” she asked him quickly, trying her best to calm her own nervous fidgeting.

                “Eren?” the old man repeated with a small sigh. “Mikasa, I’m afraid that your brother hasn’t been by this house in months.  Armin tells me that they have barely spoken since he started to pal around with Reiner Braun and all but dropped out of school.”

                “Thank you for your help, Mr. Arlert.” Jean said when it appeared that Mikasa was too distressed to speak. “Hopefully he’s at one of the other’s. Come on, Mikasa. We need to keep looking.” They got back into his car again and drove to Marco’s, and then to Connie’s only to receive the same response. “Looks like Reiner’s is the last place we have to look. Just promise me you’ll stay calm ok?”

                “Let’s just go, Jean. We’re wasting time.”

                “Alright.” He said with a sigh, starting up the car yet again and once more taking off down the road. It was no surprise that the 19 year old was not in school; when he opened the door Jean was minorly afraid that he’d have to hold Mikasa back from jumping him.

                “What do you want?” he demanded gruffly, eyes squinted against the sunlight and clearly suffering from a severe hangover. “Your brother isn’t here if that’s what this is about; he was with us but he isn’t any more.”

                “Not anymore?” she repeated dubiously. “What do you mean he’s not here anymore?”

                “Exactly what you think I mean; your brother isn’t here. He went out with us: to a movie and then to a liquor store. He ran into some short ass raven haired guy there with a permanent resting bitch face that makes Annie look like a kitten and talked him into buying us scotch with the puppy dog eye routine. We all got real drunk-except short ass who didn’t touch a drop-so I don’t really remember what happened after that but I think short ass bitch face drove him home. Can you leave now?”

                “We’ll go, sure. Thank you Reiner.” Mikasa said, turning to walk away much to Jean’s surprise.

                “Um…am I missing something?” he asked as he hurried after her. “You’re not going to attempt to assault him?”

                “No, he’s not the one who has my brother. But now I know who does.” She hissed, the car rocking on its chasy  with the force of the door being slammed shut. “You were right; he was weird and I knew it from the first second I saw him but I passed it off. We’re going to see him; to save my brother if we have to beat him to a bloody pulp to do it! I know that that bastard has him!”

                “Do you even know where he lives?”

                “Not exactly, but I do have a general idea. And that will have to be enough.”

 

                When Eren regained consciousness to find himself lying on his back in an unfamiliar room his first thought was to wonder where he was. His mouth was dry and filled with the taste of stale alcohol and something reminiscent of rotting fruit and his head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. Whatever he was lying on was soft, the sheets beneath him and the blanket drawn over his chest both smelling of clean linens and his arms had been pulled up over his head and secured in place by something coarse and tight enough to bruise and chaff. Where was he? Had he been kidnapped? The air was cold in the dark and windowless room, perfumed by bleach and something faintly metallic which he recognized from his father’s workplace and sent a shiver up his spine. A muffled groan issued from nearby and drew his attention away from his own predicament; the ropes firmly secured around his wrists made it impossible for him to sit up and look around and so he was forced to turn his head and crane his neck in order to get a better look at his surroundings. The ‘room’ in which he was being held was actually a small corner cordoned off from a larger space-likely an unfinished basement if the lack of windows was anything to go by-by a pair of sheets hung from the ceiling. Though no illumination was to be had in his part of the basement a light, most probably an old conductor’s lantern from its position standing on a small table not too far off the ground, shown from the other side of the sheet casting a macabre shadow theater against the white back drop for him to bear witness to: two figures, one tied down to what appeared to be a metal examination table struggling for all that they were worth as the other loomed over them armed with what appeared to be a hand saw. More muffled groans and what sounded like pleading garbled behind the ball gag stuffed between their teeth, and then the screaming started along with a nightmarish sound like the tearing of wet paper and the splattering of liquid onto the floor as the wielder of the sadistic weapon laughed like a mad man, occasionally hissing out remarks like “filthy bastard” and “this is what fucks like you deserve!” It went on for what seemed like forever to the teen until, finally, silence feel again and the viscous fluid-so dark that it appeared almost black-began to creep towards him across the floor. His heart was already pounding in his chest, thoughts scattered by fear and breath coming in ragged disjointed gasps when the sheet fluttered and Levi-clothing covered by a blood splattered butcher’s smock and holding a severed arm in one hand which was dripping more blood onto the floor from its ragged stump-came into view.

                “So you’re finally awake, huh brat?” he drawled, grey eyes flat and almost demonic in appearance with how they appeared to glow in the dim surroundings. “What are you crying for?”

                Crying? Hot tears of absolute terror had indeed begun to coarse from his eyes without his knowledge or consent. A whirl wind of emotions was already raging in his breast at the sight of sight of the man, the bastard who would so cavalierly take a life and think nothing of it. Fear at being held captive by such a monster; rage at his actions; horror at himself for being so weak; sorrow at the knowledge that he would never see his family again: that he’d never get to make up for his recent behavior towards his loved ones. That he wouldn’t get to have a life at all; that everything would end for him at the age of 15 at the hands of this psychopath, this serial killer! The tears flowed faster and his breath hitched into a sniffle; he hated himself for crying, for showing the same weakness that he felt, but like his sister had said he was still a child and was in way over his head. He couldn’t help himself. “Please. I’m sorry! I’ll never skip school, or drink, or smoke, or sneak out, or swear, or get into a fight or disobey my parents and sister ever again! And I won’t tell anyone about you! I-I promise! Just please, _please_ don’t kill me!”

                The raven haired man just laughed at him and shook his head as if his reaction were the most amusing thing in the world, tossing the severed arm back behind the sheet and removing the smock to reveal fine clothing-a crisp suit and slacks-underneath. “Calm you tits, brat. Killing you is the furthest thing from my intentions.” He replied calmly, drawing forwards. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 steps until he was standing over his splayed and helpless form. “It’s been too long my beloved darling. 2000 years. This world has changed greatly since our deaths and those giant bastards-the Titans-are finally gone; finally we are reunited and, this time, nothing will tear us apart.” He reached out and rested a hand-gentle, warm and surprisingly soft-on his cheek in a loving caress; Eren responded with a sharp snap of his teeth, failing to draw blood but causing Levi to withdraw with a hiss. Rather than strike him the way he expected Eren was met with more of that same creepy laughter bubbling up passed those thing seductive lips. “You don’t remember, I assume, by the way that you are acting towards me Cadet. Do you?”

                “You’re fucking crazy!” He snarled, eyes flashing as his temper once again won out against his better judgement to hold his tongue.

                “Am I? Than why is it that that mark on your hand-a birthmark in this life but a scar back then-is the same one that you had to give to yourself every time you went to use your other form? I know everything about you Eren Yeager; I am your soulmate-your lover from another life-and I have been scouring this wretched little planet in search of you since the minute that I could walk! You don’t remember yet, but I’ll see to it that you will soon enough. And until that happens, I am willing and able to keep you properly restrained.”

                “You’re nothing but a monster! A killer! A psychopath that takes human lives for sport! What you’re saying isn’t true, can’t be true, because I could never love a _beast_ like you!” The strike was swift and brutal, a back hand which connected with his cheek with a vicious crack and made little black spots appear before his vision.

                “I don’t want to hurt you, Eren, but I will use force to tame you if you make it necessary.” His eyes had gone from storm grey to jet black, the ravenous intensity of his gaze making his skin crawl. The serial killer and his captive stared each other down for almost two minutes before the doorbell rang above their heads. “Visitors? I think that I can guess who it is.” Ducking back behind the curtain again he returned with a ball gag and a syringe full of clear liquid. “I can’t risk your screaming, brat. Plus, I have work to attend to. We’ll speak again later on when I get home, but until than I need assurance that you’ll be a good little boy.” The gag was fitted securely between his teeth like the bridal of a horse despite his struggles, the needle piercing deep into his neck as reality contorted and bent until darkness overwhelmed him once again. Bending at the waist, Levi pressed a soft kiss-barely a fleeting touch-to the boy’s pink lips. “Sleep well, my angel.” That done, he headed up the stairs and had just made it up from the basement when the doorbell rang again. “I’m coming! I’m coming you impatient little shit!” Reaching the front door he yanked it open and only had a fraction of a second to register the figure on the other side before something hard connected with his face and he was sent stumbling backwards with a loud crash.


	3. Diplomacy and the Lack Thereof

 

                If he were to be entirely honest with himself Jean had expected her to do something like punching out the man when he opened the door, but what he hadn’t expected was for the 5’3” raven to recover in a matter of three seconds flat and then turn the tables on their heads. Between one blink and the next Mikasa was on the ground, pinned in a hog-tie position with the man all but sitting on her back. How anyone could move that way in a suit was a complete and utter mystery to him.

                “Not that I expect you to go pulling this shit again, considering that those attending the police academy are supposed to be law abiding citizens rather than street thugs, but allow me to give you a piece of advice: when you plan to pick on someone insure that it’s someone who’s your own size or bigger. That way, it won’t be as embarrassing when you have to tell all your little friends about how they kicked your ass!” He snarled, applying a bit more pressure to her upper back with one knee when she tried to buck him off. “If this is about the house-sidewalk issue yesterday, I don’t want to hear it! The pair of you little shits are real lucky that I’m late for work as it is, otherwise I’d be marching the pair of you in to the station by the ear and writing your girlfriend up for battery, you-Horseface-for a moving violation after you almost ran me over last night, and the pair of you for trespassing! _Get the hell off of my property!”_

                “I’m sorry, Sir! Really! But you have to understand that at the moment she’s suffering from rather sever emotional disturbance!” Jean tried to explain, desperately back tracking. He knew nothing good would come of having charges pressed against them, considering that they were both attending the police academy. “You see-.”

                “I couldn’t give less of a holy living fuck if she were suffering from possession by Satan himself!” He snapped back, pushing him out of the way; for someone so short the man that Mikasa suspected of abducting her sibling was exceedingly strong. “I’m going to get in my car and drive around the block, and if I see the pair of you still here when I get back I’ll allow a hollow point bullet to explain to you both just how much I believe in the 2nd amendment and Maria’s stand your ground laws!” The moment that the raven got off of Mikasa she tried to lunge for him again but Jean grabbed her and pulled her backwards.

                “We both apologize for your inconvenience and, um…pain. We’ll both get out of your way now!”

                “Damn it, Jean! Put me down!” But he ignored her, releasing his hold on her arm only after they were both safely down the block.

                “Mikasa, I get it! I do! But what the hell was that?” he demanded. “You’ve never done that before, and where I should and did see it coming I never thought you’d lose your composure like that! What are you going to do when we’re actually cops on the beat; assault everyone who you think is responsible for whatever crime that you’re investigating?”

                “This isn’t going to happen during _every_ crime, Jean! Just this one! This is my _brother!_ My _little_ brother! Who I all but raised myself because of how often both of my parents are away working! He’s my family, regardless of how he’s acted recently we’re still close and I will damn myself to hell if I allow some psychopath to take him from me! If he were to get hurt…” she trailed off, taking a quick shaky breath. “And besides, we do have evidence! An eye witness account that that son of a bitch drove off with my brother!”

                “An eyewitness account from a 19 year old drop out who freely admits he and his two other friends, along with Eren, were all too drunk by that point to really be sure about what happened!” He told her calmly. “Look, let’s just get back in the car and go home. Your parents should be getting home about now. We’ll let your father talk to him-maybe he’ll be able to get a better reaction, after all you said that they know each other, and if that doesn’t work we’ll get the cops involved.”

                “…Alright.” She relented after a moment, glaring at the sleek black car as it glided away up the road. “Let’s just go.” They headed back to her house and, just as they had suspected, found both of her parent’s cars in the garage and Grisha standing in the driveway. “Dad!”

                “Mikasa.” A measure of relief spread across the doctor’s features on seeing his daughter. “Is Eren with you? We didn’t see him when we got home.”

                “No, Mr.Yeager he’s…he snuck out last night and we’ve been looking for him all day.” Jean told him hesitantly. “We checked everywhere; Armin’s, Marco’s, Reiner’s even. Braun told us that they were drinking last night and that he was dragged off by a man with black hair: Mikasa thought it was your neighbor, we…went to speak to him and he threatened to have us arrested.”

                “We were just going to call the police and tell them what happened when we saw you.” Mikasa piped up, seemingly relieved that her boyfriend had not included the part about coming to blows with their raven haired suspect.

                “You think that Levi had something to do with this?” her father repeated, looking doubtful. “I find that hard to believe, Mikasa. He’s far from a people person, that’s true, but he’s a good man. A hard working man and an American hero.”

                “Dad, I know that it was him! It had to be! Reiner’s description fits him perfectly! And on top of that he was so defensive when we asked him about Eren.”

                “And you said that he was hanging around your house.” Jean reminded her. “I almost hit him when I came over last night; he was standing in the middle of your driveway.”

                Grisha sighed, but seemed to relent somewhat to their insistence. “Alright, if you really think that Levi Ackerman could be involved with your brother going missing-if he really is missing-than I believe you. I’ll go and speak with him myself, and we’ll call the police when I get back.”

                “Dad, don’t! He’s dangerous!”

                Now the doctor laughed. “Military training aside, he’s little more than an over stressed lawyer. The worst that he would possibly do is sue me for harassment, and once the situation is explained to him I’m sure that he’ll be willing to help in any way he can. The law firm where he works isn’t far; I’ll be back in an hour.” With ears deaf to their remaining concerns, her father got back into his car and backed out of the driveway to their house, heading over to the little building that was _Branch and Dawson_ lawfirm. Inside there was a waiting room filled with a number of chairs-all empty for the moment-and a reception desk behind which a tall young man with a black bowl cut was sitting.

                “Branch and Dawson lawfirm, how can I help you today?” he asked without looking up from whatever he was doing on the cellphone in his hand.

                “Hello, I’m here to see Mr. Ackerman.”

                “I’m afraid that walk-ins aren’t taken here, Sir. If you wish to see a lawyer you’ll need to make an-.”

                “Let him in, Freudenberg!” A harsh voice barked from the interior of one of the offices, making the young man jump and glance over one shoulder in a panic before returning his eyes to Grisha.

                “It would seem that Mr. Ackerman would be happy to see you now, Mr…?”

                “Doctor Yeager. Thank you for your help.” Walking passed the still trembling receptionist, he stepped into the office from which the voice had issued. Though not partner at the firm, Levi’s office was a fairly large and obsessively clean space carefully organized in a manner which only someone afflicted by sever OCD could ever hope to understand. The man himself, dressed as always in a jet black and perfectly pressed Italian suit, was perched in a chair behind the enormous desk strewn with a controlled chaos of feather-quill dip pens, law texts and documents; his short cut raven hair was falling into his face as he leaned over the paperwork that he was currently hard at work filling out.

                “Old man Pixis was in again; I swear that it’s the twentieth time he’s been in here this month for a DUI! I don’t know why I bother fighting to let him keep his license anymore, that old fart is a menace on the road!” He grunted, imparting his signature with a flourish before setting the pen down and looking up to reveal a jet black bruise around one eye. “You should be proud, Doctor Yeager. Your son may well be trouble, but your daughter has one hell of a right hook.” This was certainly the last thing that he’d expected to hear, and the Doctor appeared mortified as he put together what must have happened earlier that day when they’d ‘spoken’ with him. “Inform her that my threat to press charges was an empty one; I’ve no idea what she was so upset about, but whatever it was I figure that it won’t happen again.”

                “What it was about, I’m afraid, is my son.” Grisha admitted to him after a moment. “Eren has gone missing; one of his…less savory friends has admitted that they were out drinking together last night and that a man with black hair drove him away on the pretense of driving him home. She thinks that you were that man.”

                “Do you believe her?”

                “Not particularly, I have to admit. I know that you…don’t like children, even when they’re well behaved. And my son is going through a phase where he’s far from that.”

                “No matter what he’s done no child deserves to be abducted from their family and held against their will by a stranger, though I sincerely hope that’s not what’s going on.” Levi said calmly. “Have you contacted the authorities yet? I don’t think I need to remind you of the presence of the Raven in this city; where it’s true that it isn’t his style to take children, it doesn’t mean he won’t deviate.”

                “We haven’t contacted them yet; my daughter and her boyfriend discovered him missing this morning, and being in the academy both realized that with his record of running away from home and coming back by dinner would lead to the Police thinking that this was just another time he’d gone off on his own. They wanted to cover all bases, to make sure that they could convince the authorities that they weren’t wasting their time and that they’d immediately start looking the moment that they become involved.”

                Levi nodded in response after a moment. “All the same, I’d advise you to call them immediately upon returning home.” He told him. “And let me know if you need help with anything, legal or otherwise.”

                “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Levi. And I apologize for her behavior.”

                “Forgotten, don’t worry.” He waved him off. “Go home, Grisha. Be with your family; they’ll need you now more than ever.” The moment that the other man was out of his office the raven returned to his paperwork and spent the next few hours until nightfall diligently going through it until it was complete. Then, he got to his feet and gathered his needed belongings into his briefcase before leaving his office. “I’m leaving, Marlo. Tell these shit fucks that if they need me to teach them how to properly read a traffic ticket I’ll be back in afternoon.” Out of the door before his bewildered secretary could say a word, he headed down to the parking garage and got back into his car, driving out of the city and into the night-steeped country surrounding it until he felt sure that the area he had chosen wouldn’t be one which was easily stumbled upon for at least a few days. Getting out of the car, he opened the trunk and removed the carefully wrapped contents of the tarp-severed body parts belonging to his latest ‘guest’-before carrying them a short ways off of the road and dropping them down an embankment. Evidence that couldn’t be disinfected and neatly put away disposed of, he then returned to town and made his way back to him home, smirking to himself as he passed by the police car pulled up beside the Yeager house hold. As always, the interior of his house was dark and silent when he returned from work; turning on the lights as he passed Levi made his way up to the second floor and into the bathroom. Running the faucet until the water had warmed to his satisfaction, he plugged the drain and allowed it to fill almost to the brim before turning it off and going to fetch a towel and a change of clothes. That done, he returned back down the stairs and into the basement. Though he’d regained consciousness a while ago it was rather clear that the teen was still feeling the effects of the drug he’d been injected with hours before, his head was bobbling from side to side as he tried to lift it and he was moaning around the ball gag. “Woken up, have we Eren darling?” he purred, watching the pupils focus on his before dilating with fear. “I hope you’re ready for your bath, brat.”


	4. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bath, a bit of the past, the beginnings of an answer to how Levi died, and a planned destination for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, i've been meaning to update this for a while and just never got around to it until now and i can't tell you enough how sorry i am about that.   
> We finally start to get into Eren and Levi's past just a little bit, as well as a bit of hinting at what Levi was doing between serving in the army and finding Eren and some of Levi's plans for the future  
> This chapter centers around Levi and Eren and the developing dynamic between them; Mikasa and Jean will return in the next chapter, and Erwin and the others from Quantic will show up then.

“I’m going to take the ball gag off you,” he carefully removed the ropes from his wrists, gently stroking the rubbed-red flesh, “but the minute that you scream, you’ll regret it.” The knot fell away from behind his head as the raven gently maneuvered the still somewhat drugged brunet into a somewhat more upright position. Eren whimpered, working his jaw to release some of pent up tension in the muscles, but otherwise remained dutifully quiet too afraid of the elder’s response to disobey. “Good boy.”

                “Please. Just let me go; I want to go home.”

                “You are home.”

                “I want to see my family. My parents; my sister!”

                “You were fine without them back then, and you will be again. You’re better off with me; happier. You’ll see that soon enough.”

                “Let me go home.”

                “Eren-.”

                _“Let me go home, damn it! You’re insane; a murderer! I don’t want to stay with you! I HATE YOU!”_

 _“SHUT UP!”_ Black dots exploded before his eyes when the raven slammed his head against the metal back board of the bed he’d been tied to for the past few hours, fingers digging into his jaw with enough force to bruise the skin as he forced his head to turn to look at him. His eyes were black again, anger glimmering in the merciless black pits as he glared down at him. “Don’t make me punish you.” How soul-less the man above him appeared in that moment was enough to send his heart into frenzied palpitations as his mind went into a tailspin. He should have bitten his tongue. Should have stayed quiet when he’d had the chance. But, true to form, he’d let his temper get the better of him. Spoken without thought. Made his kidnapper, a man he’d witnessed dismember a living victim with a rusted hand saw, a serial killer who thought nothing of taking human lives for sport, angry.

                Tears welled up in his terror filled green eyes, shaking overcoming his body. “I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

                The anger melted away almost instantly, his eyes returning to their icy blueish grey as a small smile-somehow warm, despite belonging to a snake-graced his face. “I know you are. And as long as it won’t happen again, I’ll let you get away with it just this once. Because I love you. You know that, don’t you Eren?”

                “Y-Yes.” He croaked. “Yes, I do.”

                “And you love me, don’t you?” he didn’t reply. The fingers tightened around his face, eyes narrowing as the smile dipped into a frown. _“Don’t you, brat?”_

                “I-I…” even through his terror his pride was too much; he couldn’t say it. _Wouldn’t_ say it. He wouldn’t give this bastard the satisfaction of breaking him; he’d fight him with everything he had, but he’d be sure to be more careful about it from this point forwards. Instead of replying, Eren nodded. That seemed to be enough to satisfy the other for the moment.

                “I’ll get you to say it to me eventually. And you’ll mean it.” Without warning the shorter, stronger male hoisted the other into his arms; the young captive tumbled over his shoulder with a startled yelp, clawing at his back in surprise to prevent himself from falling face first into the concrete below. “Don’t worry shit head, I’m not going to drop you.”

                “W-Where are you taking me!” He mewled loudly, terror flooding through him a new as he was taken from behind the white sheet; his eyes immediately focused on the metal table, now cleaned of blood and glistening coldly in the harsh artificial light shed by the single naked bulb hanging from the ceiling above their heads alongside the little table spread with torture instruments-surgical or otherwise, some rusted and some new-sitting beside it. He hadn’t screwed up that badly, had he? The man was too obsessed with the delusion that Eren was his ‘lover’ from 2000 years ago to kill him so quickly, right? He surely still had some time to plan an escape; to find some way to signal where he was to those who were looking for him.

                Someone was looking for him.

                Weren’t they?

                “Stop squirming, brat!”

                “Don’t kill me! Levi, please! I’m sorry; I didn’t mean it!”

                The raven rolled his eyes, bypassing the metal table completely and starting up the stairs. “I’m not going to kill you, shitty brat. I told you; it’s time for your bath.”

                “Bath?” Seriously?

                “Yes, bath. You’re covered in sweat and it’s disgusting; it’s high time that I got you cleaned up and into clean clothes.” The door of the basement squeaked quietly as it was pushed open, the lights of the kitchen blinding him momentarily as his eyes struggled to adjust, reflection etched against the night outside; face streaked with tears and grime and clothing tattered and wrinkled. “You look the devil.”

                Could anyone really blame him given what he’d been through?

                The upstairs was the only part of the house he hadn’t seen yet; just as clean as the other two floors and simply adorned with a master bedroom and adjoining bath on the far end of the hall, what looked like a computer room to their right and a closed door leading to what Eren assumed to be a guest bedroom directly in front of them. Levi carried him into the master bedroom, setting him down only once they’d stepped into the enormous attached bathroom. Spotless white tile covered the floor and walls, matching the deep-bodied Victorian era claw foot tub standing in one corner already filled with water. An array of soaps and shampoos had been set out along one side of the tub and a soft white towel-carefully folded-had been placed on top of the closed toilet lid.

                “Well brat, what are you waiting for?” Levi’s eyes focused on him with a cold, fluid intensity as he waited for him to make a move. “You don’t make a habit of bathing with your clothes on, do you?”

                Undress? In front of him? No way! “For you t-to leave the room. I’d like a little bit of privacy, I’m sure you can understand.”

                Levi smiled again, a predatory flash of teeth that lasted only a moment but was more than enough to frazzle the already terrorized teen’s nerves even further. “Understand? Of course I understand, darling. But you haven’t proven to me that I can trust you yet, until then I’m not going to be leaving you alone more than is absolutely necessary.”

                “But-!”

                A raised hand was enough to silence him. “However, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I’ll turn around until you’re in the water; that’s the best you’ll get so take it or leave it.”

                Eren watched the older man like a hawk as he hesitantly began removing his ruined clothing, dropping it to the floor at his feet before clambering quickly into the tub. The water was heavenly; the perfect temperature to ease the pain of muscles made stiff but almost 48 successive hours of being trapped in the same position as he sank in up to his neck with a small contented sigh. True to his word Levi didn’t turn to face him again until he heard the splash of disturbed water. Molten cobalt flowed over him, the clear water doing nothing to hide Eren from the other’s searching gaze.

                “You’re beautiful.” Eren felt his skin crawl even as the comment made something deep within him felt warm. “Eren,” he flinched slightly as Levi moved to the edge of the tub, “look at me.” He kept his eyes of his hands. Long, thin fingers found their way beneath his bruised chin, carefully lifting his face to meet his eyes. Cold, slightly chapped lips gently pressing against the corner of his mouth; he wanted to jerk away but he knew better. It was better to try and get himself into the good graces of the mad man instead of further on his bad side, so he stayed put and allowed his captor to impart on him a kiss which was not in any way returned. When Levi pulled away he was all business, reaching for the nearest bottle. “Let’s get you cleaned up, darling. You smell.” The light touch of that hand was on him again, the back of his neck this time as he carefully titled his head back into the water to wet his hair.

                “I’m 15. I can wash myself!” He didn’t want this man to touch him, especially in any way that was at all intimate, if it was at all avoidable.

                “I know,” that purring tone had returned to his voice, his fingers carding through his hair in a way that was almost intoxicating, “and I’m going to let you do most of the work. But what kind of lover would I be if I didn’t wash your hair for you; you never could quite do it right on your own. It’s my duty to care for you,” the purr became a growl as fingernails dug into his scalp, “right?” Eren swallowed thickly and nodded. The nails released and the touch returned to being gentle; sweet smelling shampoo was squeezed from the bottle into his hair, lathering quickly into a luxurious cloud of suds. “I know that it doesn’t seem like it now, but I really do mean it when I tell you that I love you Eren. With all my heart and soul.” He tipped his head back again to clear away the suds before brushing the wet bangs out of his eyes. “Where I admit that I’m not quite the same now as I was then, neither are you. Neither is the world we live in; the world that molded us into the men that we were all those long years ago is gone. Long gone; not even history remembers it and perhaps that is for the best. The Titans lost, mankind survived. Perhaps we shouldn’t have, perhaps we didn’t deserve to, but that doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that we-you and I-are alive. That I have you in my arms again. And this time, I won’t allow anyone to separate us.” Another bottle, conditioner this time, was squeezed into his hair, lathered into the strands before gently being washed away. Setting the two bottles back in their place, Levi handed him the soap and repositioned himself to be sitting on the closed lid of the toilet with the towel in his lap.

                “Why don’t I remember?” he asked him quietly as he dipped the fresh bar of soap into the water, lathering the suds between his hands. He had to try and play into the illusion for now. To go along with the fantasy. To survive. “If what you say is true, then why don’t I remember?”

                “You will. It takes time.”

                “How long did it take you?”

                “I was born remembering; born knowing that I had to find you.” Levi replied in an equally quiet voice, face thoughtful and almost sad as he examined his carefully trimmed nails. “But most people don’t remember until they meet someone who was integrally close to them back in their former lives. For you, that person is me. I’m positive of that. Perhaps I’m selfish…that world was awful. And if there were any way that I could make it so you didn’t have to remember I wouldn’t. But it’s the only way to make you see.”

                A few more minutes passed, he didn’t know exactly how many, where the only sound was the rippling of the water in the tub disturbed by his movements. “What happened to you?”

                Grey eyes regarded him for a moment before the raven spoke. “What do you mean?”

                “Well, for it to have been a passed life…we must have died right? So…what happened to you. How did you die?”

                Levi broke eye contact and looked away; for a long time he didn’t answer, and just when the brunet began to fear he wouldn’t he said “you couldn’t control it; it wasn’t your fault,” and rose from his seat. “You done, brat?”

                “N-not yet.” He squeaked, the soap flying out of his hand and landing in the water with a splash. “I mean…I’m done washing but…can I stay in the tub a while long? I don’t want to go back into the basement yet.”

                “You’re not going back to the basement; you had to stay down there at first because I needed to get your room ready.” He told him, the plush towel unfurling from his hands as he held it out for him. “Would you like to see your room, brat?”

                His room? So he’d stay here, in his house with him? Only a few blocks away from his family? This was good! He’d play along; be patient for however long it took to gain his trust. And then he’d escape. Escape and have him arrested; thrown in prison where he belonged. “Y-yeah. I’d like to see my room, Levi.” The raven helped him out of the tub and wrapped the plush fabric around him after roughly drying his mop of brown hair and running a brush through it swiftly but effectively to undo at least some of the tangles. He changed into the clean outfit that was handed to him and followed the shorter man on slightly shaky legs back out of the room and down the hallway.

                The door that he had first seen did indeed lead to a guest bedroom, the carefully made bed clothed in pale blue and the walls white washed. The curtains were white, tied back with thick nautical rope; the dresser was white wicker and the mirror standing atop it was framed in salted drift wood. A picture sat framed on top of the dresser, showing a quaint little cottage built from stone on the shore of a beautiful dark blue inlet. Eren teetered over to it and picked it up.

                “Like that, brat?”

                He nodded. “Yeah. It’s beautiful; a place like this…I’ve always wanted to live by the sea.”

                “Good. Because I built that cottage for you, almost eight years ago now.” Levi replied, walking up to him and gently taking the picture himself. “The fulfilment of a promise I made to you long, long ago and failed to keep.”

                “Where is this?”

                “Canada. Not far outside of Quebec.” Setting it down, he sighed. “We’ll move there, once you remember. Live happily, like we should have been able to back then, far away from anyone who would want to find us. You’ll love it there, I’m sure.”

                Eren’s reply was cut off by the furious roar of his empty stomach, his face immediately coloring red as the raven snorted in amusement. “Make yourself comfortable, brat. I’ll go make us both some dinner.” Leaving the brunet still standing in front of the mirror Levi walked out of the room and locked the door behind him.

 

  



	5. FBI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grouiller - Hurry up/ move in the dialect of French spoken in Quebec.

                “Mikasa, you need to calm down.”

                The ravenette, who had been pacing up and down the length of the little room they’d been left in, turned to glare at him and if looks could kill Jean was sure that he’d have dropped dead then and there. “Calm down? We’ve been over this; my brother is in the hands of a psychopath, he lives five blocks from my house and _no one believes me!_ ”

                “They’ll get him back, you have to believe that.” He tried to assure her. “Count yourself lucky that the police are even allowing us to help in the investigation at all. Not only have we not graduated from the academy yet, you’re also too close to this investigation.”

                “Close or not, there is no way in hell that I’m going to sit around and wait for my brother to turn up scattered across a field in little pieces!”  
                The door opened without warning and a uniformed officer stuck their head into the room. “They’re here; they’d like you to be present for the profile.”

                “Right,” he said. “We’ll be there in a moment; just give us a second to get it together.”

                “I’m _plenty_ together, Jean!” She pushed her way passed him and the officer and disappeared down the hall.

                Jean sighed and shook his head. “If you say so.” He followed her out the door.

                The team from Quantico had arrived only a few minutes before and were set up in front of a dry erase board tacked with pictures and scrawled with a laundry list of names and locations. A woman with messy brown hair pulled back into a wild pony tail was sitting behind a computer, her enormous glasses reflecting the glow of the screen in front of her effectively obscuring most of her face. Four men-two blondes, one with his hair done back in a ponytail and the other ridiculously tall, a raven and a dusty brunet-and a ginger haired woman were standing together going over a file in hushed voices and another man-blonde and blue eyed with an impressive pair of eyebrows who was evidently the leader of their team-stood directly in front of the board with his hands folded in front of him; he was the only one of their group in a suit, though all of them looked undeniably professional.

                One of the other officers said something to the agent in the suit who nodded and turned to face the gathered room. “My name is Erwin Smith, and these are Eld, Oluo, Gunther, Mike and Petra. Our computer specialist here is Hanji. As I’m sure you all know we specialize in the Behavioral analysis of the criminal and the criminally insane. We were called here to help you in the investigation of the recent murder spree perpetrated by the Raven, and to lend our aid in recovering his most recent kidnapped victim, Eren Yeager, alive.”

                “You’re the same team who profiled the Shiganshina Ripper, aren’t you?”

                “Yes, we are. I’m sure you all have at least something of misgivings regarding profiles, but I assure you that they are exceedingly useful tools even when only slightly accurate. Had it not been for our profile, the Shiganshina Ripper would have never been caught. And where up until now the raven has eluded us, we always knew he would return to the killing grounds where he was first trained.”

                The ginger haired woman, Petra, stepped up beside him. “From what we’ve been able to gather over the years that he’s been killing, not just here but in other places across the country-because he _has_ been killing across the country, make no mistake-the Raven, prodigy of the Shiganshina Ripper, is male. White. Likely between the ages of 35 to 45 and likely suffering from some form of compulsive disorder. He doesn’t have any particular type-kills men and woman, black and white, young adults and middle aged though up until now he’s never made a victim of those under the age of 20-but is likely a sexual sadist; he derives pleasure from the act of torturing his victims, and that takes the place of the sex act itself. This doesn’t mean that he is impotent, however. More likely that he’s already invested in a relationship; he’s devoted to this person to the point of it being a single minded obsession, whoever this person is. It’s possible that they’ve placed this person in particular up on a pedestal, almost deified them; they might have died at some point, or left him. Perhaps in some way the boy he took resembles this person. He plays into the fantasy somehow; as long as he continues to do so we don’t believe that he’s in any danger of course, the moment that he stops, it’s likely that he’ll be dealt a particularly brutal death. Obviously, it’s our job to find him before that happens.”

                “The best place to start looking for answers on the raven’s identity would be with his mentor, obviously that’s not a viable option for many reasons. But there is an alternative route which is almost as good; the Ripper had a nephew who he terrorized and almost killed on many occasions. If anyone can help us find the Raven’s real name, it would be him.” Erwin said. “My team will stay here to help you with the continued logistics of the investigation; Petra, you’re calm enough that you won’t aggravate his admittedly short temper so you’ll come with me. It’s my understanding that young Mr. Yeager’s sister is here?”

                “Yes, Sir.”

                “Good. Work with my team; help them get to know your brother better. Anything you can tell us about, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, could be of enormous help.”

                “Right.”

                Petra trailed after her superior as he left the squad room and headed down the hallway towards the door. “The Shiganshina Ripper case was before my time in the bureau, Sir. You worked on it?”

                He nodded. “My first case as lead in the unit. If we hadn’t gotten there when we did, his Uncle probably would have killed him within the next few days. The Shiganshina Ripper forced his nephew to clean up for him; if even a single speck of blood was left behind he’d beat him within an inch of his life. Even to this day he’s obsessively clean, almost as if paranoid about it.”

                “And you’re completely sure that _he’s_ not the Raven, sir?” Petra asked him. “He was raised by the Ripper, is-as you said, obsessively clean and, according to the information that we have on him, only just moved back to the area around three years ago. When the killings started again.”

                “It isn’t him.”

                “How can you be sure?”

                “Because,” Erwin replied as they left the building and headed towards his car, “when we arrested Kenny Ackerman, Levi Ackerman was 8 years old. The Raven started his own killing spree almost the day after his mentor was thrown into prison; would you like to tell me that a child was responsible for that level of depravity?”

                “Well, we haven’t seen it yet.” But that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

 

                The knock on the front door drew the raven haired male’s attention away from him immediately; the look on his face was now one of a hunting dog which had scented out his prey and it was more than enough to make tension coil in the pit of his stomach.

                “Brat,” he hissed, “behave; we have guests. If you so much as make a sound to let them know that you are here, they will be the ones to pay for it. Understand?” Eren nodded silently, watching warily as Levi got to his feet and headed out of the room locking the door behind him. Making his way down the stairs, he straightened his clothing before opening the door.

                Standing on the other side were two people, a man and a woman one of whom-in this life at least-was unfamiliar. He couldn’t help the look of surprise which flickered momentarily across his face.

                “If it isn’t Captain Eyebrows!” He snorted. “It’s been a hell of a long time since I last saw you.”

                “Levi,” the taller man reciprocated the shorter’s smile. “That last time I saw you, you were-.”

                “21 and entering the seals; I ran into you one night after training wrapped up in DC.” He stepped aside to clear the entry way. “Come in, there’s no reason to linger on the porch. Shoes off on the rug, please. Who’s this?”

                “This is one of my agents, and the newest addition to my team. Petra Ral.”

                “Levi Ackerman,” he replied, offering the just slightly shorter woman his hand which she took; his handshake was so firm it almost unbalanced her and she winced. “I’m sure that Eyebrows here has told you at least something about me?”

                “Something,” she agreed as he released her.

                “How have you been doing lately, Levi? You’re going to be-?”

                “35 this December,” he replied. “This is about my Uncle? I haven’t heard a damn thing for that damn worthless scum bag in over two decades, so I’m afraid I won’t be of much help.”

                “It’s not about Kenny, exactly.” Erwin told him. “It’s about his student.”

                “The Raven?” He nodded. “Have a seat in the kitchen; we’ll talk over tea.”

                The kitchen in Levi’s house was extremely tidy, every surface glittering white tile and silver chrome without so much as a crumb out of place. The table and the island were the same dark stained wood and the counter tops were all hyper polished dove grey granite. An ornate white ceramic bowl was perched in the middle of the table, filled with blood red apples.

                The 5’3” raven tinkered around with a tea pot and cups for a while before pouring it out and returning to the table.

                “Milk? Sugar? Honey?”

                “No, thank you.” The cup was warm, steam rising from the fragrant deep red liquid. “What kind of tea is this?”

                “The ridiculously expensive kind, knowing how fond he is of his tea.” The blonde replied with a snicker. “Practice going well, Levi?”

                “If by ‘well’ you mean I’m practically being lynched every day by my ‘clients’ _and_ my colleagues, then yes. It’s going very well.”

                “Miss the army?”

                He shrugged. “From time to time. It was structure.”

                “Where have you been these past few years? Before you moved back here, I mean?”

                “Up North,” Levi took a careful sip of his tea, taking care not to scald himself; she couldn’t help but take notice of the very odd manner in which he held his cup. “After I finished law school I decided to try my hand at living a more simple life; built a little cabin from the ground up on the sea shore, lived there for a while. It was beautiful, quiet. And very cold, especially during the winter, not to mention lonely. I’d hoped for a time to find someone to warm my hearth but, well…never found the right person.”

                “You will; keep trying.”

                This earned the other a derisive snort. “I’m not planning on getting hitched in my golden years, shit head! How old are you anyway, 55?”

                Erwin smirked at him. “51.”

                “Whatever. I thought this wasn’t a social call.”

                “You’re right, it isn’t. Is there anything that you can tell us that might help our case?”

                “I never saw his face; I told you that. And I don’t know his name.”

                “You can’t help us at all?”

                “Did I say that?” he snapped back. “I might be able to give a bit of insight into why he took the boy at all. I know that the lot of you are profilers, but a fresh perspective always helps right?”

                “That it does.”

                “He doesn’t take kids, not to kill them. He has a pattern, one that my Uncle all but bashed into his skull, even if it is a fairly…loose and indistinct one. He wouldn’t deviate from it that severely. But the Ripper, and the Raven after him, killers like them have a legacy. They want to see to it that, if they’re caught, someone will keep doing it. Keep killing.”

                “You think he kidnapped him to teach him to kill?”

                “It’s possible, though they generally prefer them a bit younger. Eight, ten, they’re easier to train that way. 15 is a bit of a stretch, but you never know.”

                “Can we save him?”

                He considered this a moment before slowly nodding. “He’ll break him, first. Likely over a period of around three months. If you can get to him before then I suggest you send the kid to a psych ward to recover.”

                “And if we can’t?”

                “Don’t bother. He’s not a child anymore; he’s a psychopath. Now, if you’re both finished, I need to be heading in to work.”

                “Well, we’ll get out of your hair then.” Erwin said, getting up from the kitchen table and allowing the raven to collect the cups. “Thank you for your time, Levi. The insights that you’ve given us could well prove invaluable.”

                “Yes, well, I hope you find the brat. He may well be a hell raiser, but he doesn’t deserve that fate.”

                As the two men continued their conversation Petra slowly wandered her way out of the kitchen and into the hallway to the foyer where the front door was. Checking to make sure that no one had come after her she darted up the stairs, careful to avoid allowing them to creak, to inspect the second floor. The first door that rose up in front of her was tightly closed and soundly locked; the handle resisted being turned as the door shuddered on its hinges and over the clattering of metal and wood she could have sworn there was a sharp intake of breath and a rustle of disturbed sheets.

                “Hello? Is someone in there?” No answer, but a quiet creak of bed springs could be heard. “Eren?”

                “Ms. Ral.” The voice from directly behind her sounded anything but amused. Petra whirled around and almost rammed face first into Levi’s chest; the man was standing only an inch or two behind her, glaring down from his two inch height advantage like a serpent sunning itself on a rock. “Are you lost? The front door,” he pointed sharply behind him down the stairs, “is that way.”

                “O-Oh, no. I wasn’t…I mean, I was just looking.” She squeaked, made nervous by the raven’s reptilian stare. “You have a very beautiful house, Mr. Ackerman.”

                “It’s fairly standard, in my opinion.” A flat monotone, eyes never leaving her face. Never blinking. “If you’d like, the next time that you come over-should I have the time-I’ll give you a tour.”

                “That would be great, thank you.” But she didn’t move, looking around and searching for any reason to stall but Levi would have none of it.

                “Ms. Ral, _grouiller!_ ” He growled.

                She had no idea what he’d said, but the near Demonic tone in which it was snarled sent her running for her life out of the house and into the blonde’s waiting car.

                “I trust that, having met him, your concerns about Levi being the Raven have been put to rest?” As the backed out of the driveway the raven haired male glared owlishly after them from his position standing on the porch.

                “Y-Yes Sir, of course.” Her experience that day had done anything but.


	6. Amplify

                The better part of the drive back to the station was spent in silence, Petra doing her best to calm her racing heart while her boss hummed tunelessly alongside whatever tune was playing over the radio. When they finally got back she found Hanji happily tapping away on her computer, as usual, and the other three members of her group examining a case report and talking quietly amongst themselves.

                “Oh, there she is.” Eld said upon catching sight of her. “How was the Commander’s friend?”

                “If he were anywhere near as helpful as he was creepy, we’d have solved this case already!”

                “That bad, huh?” she shuddered in reply. “Well, there’s plenty for us to do so that ought to take your mind off it at least a little bit; we were just about to head out in search of the three juvenile delinquents that he was with just before he disappeared. Care to tag along?”

                “Yeah, I’ll be right there,” her eyes scanned the room, catching sight of a head of black hair just as it went whipping around a corner. “I need to speak with the missing boy’s sister first.” Without waiting for them to respond she took off after where she’d seen the other disappear.

                The moment that the two in the room spotted her they were on their feet, drinks in hand forgotten.

                “Petra? Have you found something?”

                “No, but…I need to speak with you privately later. Concerning Levi.” She told the other woman, pulling a business card from her pocket and flipping it over to swiftly scrawl down an address on the blank back before handing it over. “Meet me here at around six this evening; we should have gotten back by then.”

                Mikasa nodded. “I’ll be there.”

                Petra met up with the others and they headed out to Gunther’s car; it took them about 20 minutes of driving around town before they finally located the trio skulking in a corner alley smoking what they could tell from the smell weren’t cigarettes.

                “U-Uh, guys!” Catching sight of their car pulling to a stop, the skittish Berthold immediately became nervous.

                “Those aren’t cops,” Annie hissed, eyes narrowing razor sharp. “Those are feds.”

                “This must be about Eren, then.” Reiner noted.

                “Yes, this is about your missing friend. We’re from the BAU and were called in by the local PD to help in solving the case.” Eld explained. “Would the three of you mind answering a few questions for us?”

                “I already told his sister everything that we know about what happened to him.”

                “But you haven’t spoken to us.”

                A tense silence followed as the two groups stared each other down, then Annie dropped her blunt to the alley floor and ground it out with the heel of her boot. “May as well tell them what they want to know, provided it won’t get us into any sort of trouble?”

                “Our only concern is returning Eren Yeager to his family alive.”

                “He snuck out the window of his bedroom to meet up with us at around 8; we drove to a movie theater: saw one of the new slasher films.” She told them. “The movie got out around 10, and so we decided to head out to our usual drinking spot since it was too early to head in. We stopped on the way there at the liquor store about a mile or so down the road from the theater; Eren was the only one of us with his fake ID on him that night, so I gave him $40 and we sent him inside.”

                “He came back about 5 or 10 minutes later,” Berthold continued, “with a bottle of Crown Royal.”

                “But he wasn’t alone; some guy we didn’t know had agreed to buy him the liquor on the condition that he be allowed to drive him home at the end of the night. Eren said his father knew him, so he agreed.”

                “He didn’t drink a drop, but the four of us were pretty plastered by the end of it.” She admitted. “The last thing any of us remember clearly is Eren being lead back up the path, barely able to stand.”

                “Did you get a name?”

                All three shook their heads. “Not one that we remember, but the store has cameras.”

                That was how they’d ended up driving around town for another half an hour searching for the store in question. After finally finding it and wheedling the tapes out of the store manager, the four had returned to the station to review them.

                “Unfortunately,” Oluo noted in his usual board tone, “the cameras outside haven’t been working for years and the owners never bothered to repair them, so we don’t have a view of the parking lot but around the time they claim to have arrived at the store we do have video of a lone customer buying the described bottle of scotch.”

                “That’s him! That’s Levi!” She told them, pointing excitedly at the screen. “I _knew_ that there was something off about him!”

                “Well, we can’t just go running in and arresting him because he showed up on a camera screen buying alcohol. Not considering the fact he’s over 21.”

                “Then what do you suggest we do?”

                “He’s a lawyer, right? Let’s stop by his practice and ask him to produce the bottle; if he can’t, we get a warrant and search his house top to bottom.”

                “And if he can?”

                “We go back to the drawing board.”

                Needless to say she wasn’t exactly comfortable with that plan, even as they pulled up outside the office where he worked and ambushed the unsuspecting secretary sitting behind the front desk. After being pointed in the right direction, the four agents all but busted down the door.

                The raven haired male sitting calmly behind his desk filling out paper work didn’t so much as flinch at the sound of his door banging open, and he didn’t look up. “Ms. Ral, good evening. Erwin couldn’t find the time to accompany you this time? Pity.” He set his pen down with a punctuated clack, careful to keep it perfectly level with the bottom of the paper and the edge of the desk. “Can I help you all with something?”

                “We have reason to believe that you may have provided a minor with alcohol.”

                He raised one perfectly arched eyebrow in response. “And what evidence, exactly, do you have that made you believe I’d committed a felony?”

                “We apologize for the interruption, sir, but we have video evidence of you purchasing a bottle of scotch on the same night around the same time that Eren Yeager went missing.”

                “You mean that bottle?” he indicated the bottle of Crown Royal sitting on the top of a nearby shelf. “I’ve the receipt as well, if you’d like to see it.” Extracting said item from his wallet and passing it across the table he went back to his work, entirely unruffled by their presence. Frowning to herself, Petra stepped forward to take the receipt and “accidentally” moved a paperweight almost two centimeters to the right. The effect was immediate and really quite frightening as Levi-teeth bared and hissing like an angered cat-leapt to his feet and all but lunged across the desk top to return the offending object to its proper positon before casting her in a draconian glare. “Please,” he snarled, “refrain from touching anything on my desk. It becomes very difficult for me to work when I have to suffer such a distraction!”

                “I apologize, it was an accident.” She stared him down without flinching and took a small matter of satisfaction when he was the one to look away first.

                “As you say,” calm demeanor abruptly returning, he lowered himself back into his chair. “If the four of you are satisfied, I’d appreciate that you leave; I’ve a client coming in on appointment in five minutes and, with the work load the way it is, I already won’t be getting home until early tomorrow morning.”

                “The receipt and your being able to produce the bottle in question is enough to convince us that we were quite mistaken; sorry for the inconvenience.” Eld apologized quickly and they all filed out. Once sure that they were out of earshot he turned to his shorter colleague and nodded. “You’re right, he _is_ creepy!”

 

                Mikasa had arrived at the given address about an hour and a half before the agreed upon time, unable to stand waiting in the squad room any longer. She found herself a small coffee house which could easily have gone unnoticed to those passing by on the street outside, settling herself in a sagging leather armchair in the very back of the dim room, surrounded by the smell of coffee and the sound of beans being fine ground for brewing. She’d ordered a drink at some point after she’d arrived and was half way through it when 6 finally rolled around and Petra appeared. The FBI agent’s eyes scanned the small space quickly before she started forwards towards her, dropping into the empty seat on her other side.

                “You said that you had something important to speak to me about? And that it concerned that bastard Levi?”

                She nodded. “Yes, I do. And it does.”

                “What is it?”

                “I believe you.”


	7. Escalate

 

                “You believe me?” she nodded. “Is this some sort of profile trick to get me to admit I’ve developed an obsession with publicly destroying someone for no reason?”

                At this much Petra couldn’t help but snort. “No, not at all. It’s the complete and honest truth; I’ve met with him twice today and neither time instilled in me resounding confidence of his innocence.” She explained. “He fits the profile almost to a t-Caucasian, male, severely OCD, antisocial, rigorously obsessive-and, when I was upstairs in his house, I heard someone moving in a locked room and he lives alone.”

                “Did you figure out who it was?”

                She shook her head. “He caught me before I could try.”

                “And you don’t have anything on him?”

                “Nothing solid. Not really all that much that’s circumstantial either. He’s careful to the point of paranoia.”

                The ravenette sighed. “So we won’t be getting a warrant anytime soon? My brother could end up dead long before we find anything that can hold up in court!”

                “I know. That’s why I think we may have to resort to less than legal methods, if you’re willing.”

                Grey eyes met amber ones for a moment before she slowly nodded. “What do you propose?”

                “We don’t bother to wait on a warrant; he isn’t supposed to return home until early tomorrow morning.”

                “You’re suggesting that we break into his house?”

                “It’s not a crime, not if there’s an endangered person inside of the premises. And they can’t prove what we heard when we arrived at the scene.”

                “I suppose that’s true.” And it was a trick often used by Police wanting to search without a warrant. “But if no one is there?”

                “This is your brother, Mikasa. Aren’t you willing to take that risk?”

                “I am, but this is your _career_ and you’ve no connection to my family. Why would you be willing to take that risk?”

                “Because it’s in my commanding officer’s best interests to be made aware that he’s catering to a psychopath who he calls his friend!” She informed her almost sharply. “Not to mention that it’s better for everyone involved and everyone in this city, for that matter, that the Raven be finally put in a cage where he belongs!”

                “So you’ve developed a vendetta; one you want to satisfy. _That’s_ why you’re willing to do something this drastic!”

                “Does it really matter why?”

                “By this point, no.” Maybe it should have, but it didn’t. “We shouldn’t waste any more time sitting here.”

                The other nodded. “We’ll take my car.”

                The drive out to the house took about 20 minutes from the coffee shop where they’d met up, and by the time they arrived on the scene it was dark. Shadows extended outwards from the wavering puddles cast by old lamps lining the quiet street, darkening steadily outwards to pitch black. The two woman hurried across the perfectly kempt lawn and up to the door, stopping momentarily on the porch to check the knob; it turned without trouble, the door creaking open to reveal the gloom of the home on the other side. Petra turned to her, “did you hear that? Someone’s in trouble!”

                Being sure to close the door behind them in case of any nosey neighbors peering through windows, the pair hurried quietly up the stairs to the second floor. “It’s this door; are you able to pick a lock?”

                “That’s more of my brother’s forte, but I can try.”

                Levi, glancing down at the monitor hidden beneath his desk mid meeting with a client, dropped his pen in surprise. _Shit! “_ I apologize; we’ll have to reschedule this for a later time.” Just when he’d been considering putting Erwin on notice that he was considering a harassment charge against his team, _this_ happens! They wouldn’t take the brat from him again! Not after all the work-the blood, sweat and tears-it had taken to find him. Not after 2000 years! He wouldn’t let them!

                When the door to the room finally swung open, a startled Eren was revealed on the other side, sitting wide eyed on his knees in the center of the bed.

                “Eren! Thank God, you’re alright!” She threw her arms around his shoulders, the teen’s arms slowly coming up to encircle her waist in return even as the tired concern which did not belong on his face and aged him 30 years remained in place.

                “Mikasa, what are you doing here?”

                “Saving you; what did you think? That we’d given you up for lost just because you’ve run off before?”

                “No, but…I can’t just leave! He’d flip his shit; he’s crazy enough as it is!” He told her starkly. “He’s delusional, but I know that he won’t hurt me. He thinks that I’m the reincarnation of his lover from 2000 years ago and if he comes back here and I’m not-.” A sound from outside made him turn white. “Shit! He’s back; why’s he back? It’s too early for him to be back!” Disentangling himself from his sister quickly, he leapt off of the bed and shoved them towards the closet. “Hide; be quiet! You can sneak out the back when he goes to bed!” Eren unceremoniously stuffed them inside and shut the door, taking a flying leap onto the bed and settling himself back in place just as Levi erupted through the door.

                “I know I locked this damn door, brat!”

                “And I picked the lock; I had to pee, you weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow and I didn’t think you’d appreciate having to use a spot bot on the carpet.” His tone was dry and unflinching as the black clad male flounced towards him like the shadow proceeding a violent storm.

                “Something you want to tell me, brat?”

                “Uh…yeah, actually. I’m hungry.”

                “Cut the crap, Eren.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “Don’t test my patience, shit head! I know they’re here; _where are they?”_

                “I really _don’t_ know what you’re talking about.” A sharp slap and a yelp, fingers digging into already bruised skin as his head was roughly turned to view the little picture sitting on the dresser.

                “There’s a camera in that picture frame; I’ve been keeping an eye on you in my office! I know that Ms. Ral and your bitch sister are here!” He snarled. “If you make me check that camera, and I find out you’ve hidden them somewhere, it will be worlds worse. For all three of you. Think about what you saw the first day that you were here; would you like a close up view of that? Without the sheet to block anything this time?” Eren squeaked. “ _Well?”_

“…They’re in the closet.”

                The door was ripped open, revealing the two hiding inside. Petra immediately went for her side arm but their aggressor was far faster; the razor edged blade of an army knife was pressed to her throat, gaze firmly locked on the ravenette beside her to insure she didn’t cause any trouble in the mean time.

                “Hand it over, Ms. Ral, if you wouldn’t mind?” With the knife to her throat she didn’t have much choice but to comply; he tossed the weapon across the room and it landed with a clunk in the corner. “Now, out of the closet. Both of you.” Again the pair reluctantly complied, advancing forwards into the room. A well placed precise strike and pain blooming across their perception before everything went black.

                When Mikasa next came aware it was to the quiet clanking of iron chains, her wrists bound in cold leather restrains and her back pressing against the cold cement wall through the thin fabric of the shirt that she wore. Beside her, mostly upright but still unconscious, was Petra. Standing not far away with his back to them was their captor, his attention riveted on the table of bladed objects in front of him.

                “You,” she croaked, “you’re the Raven!” He hummed softly in response but didn’t turn around. “You’re sick! A psychopath!”

                “Yes, I am. What, pray tell, brought you to that blatantly obvious and wholly inevitable conclusion?” he drawled, picking up a particularly rusty blade to inspect it for a moment before putting it down. “Even without evidence, you believed-correctly, but that’s of no current consequence-that I was a serial killer. Disregarding the illegality of your actions,” he chuckled and shook his head as he finally turned to face them, leaning cavalierly against the metal table, “was very stupid.”

                “What are you going to do to us then, you depraved bastard?”

                “Do to you? I’m not going to do anything to you.” The almost imperceptible smirk on his face was beyond creepy. “My Eren cares for you now like he did then; he begged for your life. _Both_ your lives. Groveled on his knees, poor thing. Against my better judgement, I’ll do as he asks this time around.”

                “My brother,” Mikasa snarled, “does _not_ belong to anyone! Least of all you!”

                “You haven’t changed much either from back then, I see.” He drawled. “Ever wonder where the ‘birthmark’ on the back of his neck came from? The two, horizontal lines running across the nape of his neck?”

                “It’s just that, a birthmark. Irrelevant.”

                Now Levi scoffed, pushing himself off of the table with a casual flick of his ankle. “Perhaps to those like you, who don’t remember.”

                “Remember? Remember what? The ‘other life’ you’re going on about is a _delusion!”_

                “You killed him, you know. Your brother.”

                “I-!”

                “He was a Shifter; a Human who could assume a Titan form at will. But what set him apart from the others, aside from not being possessed of the desire to wipe out Humanity, was the ability to control it. He was as much of a threat to our species as he was an asset, and as such it fell to me to cut him down should he ever lose control. And you, should I fail to do so.” His tone was smooth, dark, words spilling in smooth languor from smooth slightly chapped lips. “When the day finally came that he went berserk, the Commander ordered me to put him down like any other Titan. But I loved your brother too much to follow that order. I thought that I could reason with him; talk him back from the Titan’s control. I was wrong, and for that I paid the ultimate price. So it fell to you to follow the orders of our superior, but at the last possible moment you hesitated. It took him _hours_ to die because you didn’t cut deep enough, and the Scouting Legion left us both lying there in the dirt! You’ve no idea how much he _suffered_ because of you! As for Petra and the others,” his eyes fell on the other woman who was only now slowly begging to wake up, “their insubordination is consequence of my failure to be there when they needed me to lead them most.”

                “So you’re just going to leave us here?” she demanded of his retreating back.

                Levi nodded, stopping momentarily on the stairs. “Yes, I am. I’ll leave your fate up to chance; if Erwin and the others find you before you starve to death so be it. If they don’t…” he shrugged and left the basement without another word. Eren was sitting at the kitchen table, fidgeting nervously with his hands in his lap. “You’ve been behaving yourself, brat? Good. Remember our little deal; I let them live and you take a road trip with me. Up to the cabin.”

                “Yes, Sir.” He mumbled, not meeting his eyes.

                “Are you hungry, Eren?” he nodded after a moment. “I’ll make you some tea and a little something to eat, and then I’ll go and get the car ready so we can head out alright?”

                “Yes, Sir.” He sat there, straight backed, hands in his lap now fallen still. Eren continued to stare straight ahead of him at the basement door while the raven haired male went about making a sandwhich and brewing a cup of tea, careful to mix in the crushed up sleeping pills so that they fully dissolved into the warm liquid alongside the three spoonful’s of sugar. “Thank you.”

                “Of course, my darling.” Eren barely suppressed a shudder as the man’s hand fell to rest on his shoulder. “Take your time, I don’t want you getting car sick.”

                Leaving Eren to eat his dinner in the kitchen, Levi went out to the car to check the gas in the tank and the air in the tires before otherwise readying the vehicle for his intended purposes. After about 15 minutes had passed he returned to the kitchen to find a shattered China cup and the last dregs of tea scattered across the tile floor alongside an unconscious Eren. With no intention of ever returning to the house Levi allowed the mess to remain, carefully lifting the gangly teen into his arms to avoid dragging him over any bits of broken glass and heading back out to the car. Folding him into a comfortable position in the bed of the trunk, now padded with a pillow and some blankets, and tightly closed the lid before getting into the front seat and driving down the road towards the interstate.


	8. Escape

 

                Jean hadn’t seen the overwrought ravenette since around four the night before, and now at one in the afternoon without word or even a call to be had he’d begun to grow worried. Not just for her, but for their sole not-suspect in the disappearance; she’d punched him out already, what would she do now that he wasn’t there to hold her back?

                In the squad room he found the group from Quantic huddled together and talking urgently in hushed tones; he noticed almost instantly that the ginger haired woman-Petra-was absent.

                “So Mikasa isn’t the only one who’s missing?”

                They looked up at him with a small start, no one having heard his approach. “No, she isn’t. None of us have seen Petra since six last evening.”

                “They were going to meet up together somewhere at that time,” he recalled. “I’m not sure where she just wrote down an address and gave it to her-but they’re probably still together. And, given their shared suspicion, are probably planning on harassing your friend further.”

                Erwin sighed heavily, suddenly looking tired beyond his years. “Hanji, if you wouldn’t mind, could you bring up the hours of Levi’s office; I think it would be best we resolve this before he feels the need to file a complaint.”

                “Right away!” A fire storm of clattering keys. “Opened three hours ago; he’s probably there unless it’s an off day, so you’ll definitely be able to head over to talk to him.”

                “Thank you,” blue eyes turned to Jean. “I think it’s best that you come with us as well. In case we need your help to calm her down.” He nodded and followed swiftly after them into their cars.

                By the time they reached the office it was closer to 2 than 1 and the lot was near to the point of overflowing; inside it wasn’t much better, the receptionist all but hiding underneath his desk while an angry crowd milled around the waiting room. He glanced up at them surreptitiously as they entered.

                “It’s going to be a while, I’m afraid, if you’re here for an appointment with Mr. Ackerman.”

                The tall blonde raised an eyebrow. “And why would that be?”

                “He’s not here; hasn’t kept any of his scheduled appointments and won’t answer his cell. This really isn’t like him! He’s normally here before I am, or else doesn’t bother to leave at all, and he’s never once missed an appointment before!” He told them. “He started acting strangely last night; went tearing out of his office in the middle of an appointment with a client and didn’t come back. I’m worried that something might have happened!”

                “We’ll run by his house and check on him; you may be right.”

                “If you do find him, and he’s alright, can you send him back here _before_ they kill me!”

                “We’ll be sure to do that.”

                It was a relief to get out of the overly crowded room; once they managed to free their cars from the parking lot they arrived at Levi’s house in just over five minutes. The windows were dark, the front door hanging slightly open and the garage door left open, revealing that there car which should have been inside was missing.

                “Something definitely happened; this isn’t like him at all.”

                “We’re not going to wait for a search warrant or anything?” Jean demanded as the others jumped out of the car. “Isn’t just running in sort of illegal!?”

                “No, someone could be hurt; we search the premises now, plain sight only, to make sure that there isn’t an injured part somewhere on the property. Once we’re sure that no one is hurt, we’ll worry about a warrant.”

                The interior of the house was as dark and quiet as the outside had been, the shattered remains of a tea cup lying on the wooden floor with tea-dried sticky with sugar-splattered all around it and a plat sitting on the table top, empty but for a handful of crumbs. The door down into the basement stood ajar, revealing the steep wooden staircase which lay directly on the other side. They stairs creaked loudly beneath their footsteps, swaying slightly from side to side with the single naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. The moment that he was far enough down the stairs to see into the basement itself Jean froze on the stairs, forcing the others to pull up short behind him.

                “Holy shit!”

                A number of painter’s tarps, likely used to prevent blood from getting onto any surface that would stain, had been folded and stacked up in the corner; in the middle of the room was a metal operating table, the hyper-polished surface glinting cruelly in the harsh glow, and beside it stood a small table outfitted with a tray full of various sharp instruments. Chained to the far wall by their wrists were the missing ravenette and ginger, both of whom looked exhausted as they hung from their restraints.

                “I was right all along; that bastard was the one who took my brother!” She snarled at them the moment she realized their presence, straining uselessly against the chains attached to the walls. “He was the Raven all along, and now he’s dragged my little brother away to God knows where!”

                “The key; he left it in that tray.” Petra informed them quietly. “We heard someone calling for help when we got here last night, so we broke in. He was being held in the quest bedroom on the second floor, but before we could get him out safely Levi returned. He disarmed me; I don’t know where they’ve gone, but I think he took my side arm with him.”

                Erwin quickly retrieved the key from where it had been left, handing it off to Jean who quickly rushed to free them. Inside of the little tray, beside the knives saws and various other medieval instruments was a black flip phone; a single number had been saved into the contacts, and the other end of the line was picked up within seconds of being dialed.

                “Ah, I figured you’d find the phone which you eventually discovered my two guests.” A psychotic, chilling laugh followed immediately after. “What took you so long? I thought you were the best!”

                “Levi,” he did his best to keep his voice calm when he spoke, “you have him with you, don’t you? Is Eren alright; may I speak with you?”

                “Alright? _Of course_ he’s alright; I won’t hurt him unless I have to in order to keep him safe! If you remembered, ‘Commander’, you’d know that! And no, you can’t speak to him.” The usually calm and put together man was snarling like a rabid animal now; it wasn’t all that hard to imagine him frothing at the mouth, eyes as black as an attacking shark’s. “He’s mine! I’ve waited too damn long, put too much effort into tracking him down, to allow anyone to take him from me again!”

                “You belong together; you’re soul mates.”

                “Yes, we do! The brat will be fine with me-as a matter of fact, he’ll be a hell of a lot better off; I’ll do a better job keeping him clean, sober and away from his delinquent friends than his bitch sister and constantly absent parents ever could-so it’s best that you go the hell back to DC! Because if _anyone_ tries to take him from me there will be hell to pay, I promise you!”

                “We don’t want to take him away from you, but we need to be sure that he’s alright. His parents and sister will want to see him one more time; to say goodbye.”

                “Oh, so they just want to make sure I’m not going to be mistreating him?”

                “Yes, exactly.”

                “Well, in that case, I’m currently going 80 miles an hour down the off ramp to ‘fuck you’ towards ‘wouldn’t you want to know’!” The other spat. “I’m not stupid, Erwin, so I’d appreciate you not treat me that way!” The line went dead.

                “Well, that didn’t sound like it worked.” Eld noted.

                “Does it ever?” Jean demanded.             

                “Most criminals aren’t resoundingly intelligent,” the blonde replied as he set the phone down. “With him, I knew it was a long shot. But I had to try.”

                “Intelligent or not, he’s a Sociopath! We can’t let him get away!”

                “We won’t; we’ll send out a B.O.L.O on him and an Amber Alert on your brother,” he assured her. “That said, I don’t believe that he is a Sociopath. Sociopathy, even in its most high functioning form, is characterized by a lack of true emotion and a total inability to love; they don’t see people, they see means to an end. Levi is delusional and homicidal, but he truly believes he loves your brother.”

                “If that’s the case,” Jean asked, “then what _is_ he?”

                Erwin was silent for a moment, eyes dark and expression troubled. Then, he sighed and shook his head. “I think he’s evil.”

 

                At some point he’s regained consciousness curled up on a soft mound of blankets and pillows somewhere that was unfamiliar, warm and dark. A low, constant humming sound surrounded him on all sides as he was rocked gently back and forth; still groggy and partially under the effects of whatever he’d been slipped, it wasn’t long before Eren drifted back down into sleep. Only this time, now that his mind was somewhat clear, it wasn’t just darkness that lay behind his lids.

_A splitting headache was the first thing that registered on him as he slowly began to regain consciousness. The sun was beginning to set, the sky above him aflame with pinks and golds and violets as the same cool breeze which shook the massive trees forming the ranks of the dark forest that rose a couple hundred yards away gently caressed his face. The air around him smelled like sweat and horses and blood, and as sound slowly began to blossom around him he began to wander where he was and why he couldn’t move. Lying stretched out on a wooden stretcher in the grass, pain shooting through him and limbs filled with molten lead. A bandage had been wrapped secured around his forehead; why? What had happened?_

_A shadow fell over him, and looking up he was met with the sight of Levi standing there clad in an unfamiliar uniform-the same one that he was wearing, now that he gave a thought to his own clothes-with the setting sun creating a halo of blazing scarlet fire around him; set against the background of black, those striking cobalt eyes seemed to glow; it took him a moment to realize that Levi himself seemed to be injured._

_He wanted to flinch away-to try and flee, or to call out to the countless other people milling around nearby for help-but his body wouldn’t obey. It were as if he were trapped within his own mind, watching through his own eyes as a scene from the very distant past played out before him without his control._

_The sight of the man sent his mind spinning, memories of what had happened-of the trauma he’d seen-flashing through his mind all at once. The expedition. The Female Titan. The forest. Tears, white hot and bitter, burned his eyes as they spilled down his face_

_“I-I’m sorry,” it came out as a choked up whimper. “I failed. I was there, and I should have done more to save them, but I ran instead. They’re all dead because of me.”_

_“You followed orders, brat.” The other replied quietly, voice toneless as he turned to glance at the four bodies being loaded into a nearby wagon. “That is all that can be expected of a soldier; death is a part of the Scouting Legion.”_

                A bright light maliciously stabbing him in the eyes shocked the teen out of his troubled sleep; wincing against the blinding brilliance as he sat up, Eren discovered that he had in fact been locked in the trunk of the car and that his captor-now dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans rather than the formal button down and slacks he was used to-had decided that it was time to let him out.

                “Where are we?” he mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes with one hand while using the other to clamber out onto the baked-hard asphalt of the unfamiliar parking lot.

                “About half way through West Virginia; we’re driving all the way into Ohio before we stop at a hotel for the night, but I figured that you’d be hungry by now and would appreciate a chance to take a shit. Not to mention that we’re far enough out that it’s safe to let you ride in front with me instead of in the trunk.” Levi informed him as he closed the lid of the trunk. “I need to refill the tank, so go ahead and head in to start figuring out what you want.”

                “Yeah, sure.”

                “Eren,” the other called him back as he turned to walk away, a threat lacing his voice as he stared him down. “Be sure to keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut, or else you’ll be spending the rest of the trip in the trunk. Am I clear?”

                “Yes, Sir.” Nice as it had seemed while drugged and asleep, he was sure that that wouldn’t last much longer now that the effects of whatever the hell he’d been slipped had worn off. Taking care to act natural despite the fear he felt over being stuck miles from everything and everyone he knew with only a homicidal nutjob for company, he made his way through the front doors of the Quiktrip and greeted the clerk with a friendly smile. By the time Levi had finished refueling the car and come inside to pay Eren had made his way over to the deli area and selected a sandwhich.

                “Grab whatever the hell you want brat; go wild. It’ll be a while before we stop again.”

                By the time their mini shopping trip was over Eren had two club sandwhiches, two bags of chips, a pile of napkins-condition of being allowed to eat in the car-four candy bars, a bag of beef jerky, three twinkies and a cup of soda so large it could have easily fit into a 2 liter bottle. Levi had bought himself two sandwhiches, a chocolate bar and a bottle of Snapple Ice Tea.

                “In some countries that’s illegal, you know.” Eren, currently in the process of drinking through the straw sticking out of his drink, pulled back to look at him.

                “What is?”

                “Having a soda bigger than your head.”

                “Yeah, right.” Shifting himself into a more comfortable position sitting on top of the back of the black four door, Eren took another bite of his lunch. “You’re not the first to try that lie.”

                “Who’s to say that it’s a lie?” The lid on the glass bottle popped loudly as the safety seal was broken; the liquid inside shown dark red in the sun as the raven male tilted his head back to take a drink; a warm wind blew, ruffling the sleeves of his shirt to reveal the blue and white wings tattooed on his left bicep; Eren choked on his drink.

                “Something the matter, shit head? I don’t need to use the Heimlich on you, do I?”

                “T-The Wings!”

                Levi glanced down at the tattoo on his arm as well. “I take it, from your reaction, that you’re starting to remember? Doubtless that, for now, it was something fairly trivial. Could have been something from your then childhood, even.” He shrugged. “Yeah, I wore that symbol until the day I died back then. And it chased me since the first day that I was reborn in this world. I got it tattooed on my body the first moment that I was old enough to do so; a reminder of the man I used to be, and of how the world used to be. But most importantly it was the serve as a reminder of you. Something to push me onwards when it seemed like I might not ever manage to find you at all.” He went to wipe some crumbs from the corner of his mouth, but the teen flinched away. “You don’t like me to touch you, do you?” Eren hesitated for a moment, then lowered his eyes to his hands and shook his head. Immediately the raven haired male withdrew, becoming noticeably more distant if not cold. “You finished?” Again Eren nodded; Levi slid off of the back of his car and started towards the driver’s side. “Let’s go, brat. We’ve still got a lot of land to cover.”


End file.
